Lightning sparks fires, winds topple trees

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- More than 2,500 people in Mecklenburg County are still without power this morning after severe thunderstorms roared through the area Tuesday night and the First Warn Storm Team says more storms are expected this afternoon.

“The only thing we need to get more widespread showers and storms is a just a few hours of sunshine,” said First Warn Storm Team Meteorologist Brad Panovich. “We don’t need a lot of sun, just a little heating to get thing started. We have very high humidity and all the upper level support to get the storms fired up again this afternoon and evening.”

Much like Tuesday, the main threat will be lightning and strong winds.

Power outages reached up to 10,000 on Tuesday night, and crews worked to restore power through the night.

Medic spokesman Eric Morrison reports a 50 percent increase in calls for service Tuesday night between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. Of those, 33 were car collisions. In addition, medics responded to 10 medical calls at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport, where many flights were cancelled because of the weather. Several of those calls were for passengers with existing medical conditions who did not have access to their medications.

"Ideally, it would be helpful if everyone carried a list of their medications with them at all times. It's also important, particularly when traveling, to keep a small supply of your medications in a carry-on bag in case of unexpected delays," Morrison said.

The Charlotte Fire Department responded to 25 calls about downed power lines on Tuesday night. Overall, the fire department had 106 calls.

Vidya Shankar Subramanian

Severe weather images

One of the problem spots was on Regan Drive outside Somerset Apartments, where lightning struck a power line.

Rick Brooks placed one of the department's eight calls for lightning, which hit his house on Conservatory Lane.

"When I pulled up I noticed smoke billowing out of the house," Brooks said. "I called 911."

Firefighters said the blaze started under Brooke's house, in a crawl space. No one was injured but the lightning and chaos sent Brooks' pet into hiding.

"What we're focusing on now is looking for our dog. He answers to Sonny. We haven't been able to find him," Brooks said.

Meanwhile, Suzanne Rodriguez Delrey and her son watched a neighbor's house on Norman Landing burn after another lightning strike.

"There was a lot of smoke," she said. "We heard the fire trucks and we looked to the front of the house and saw smoke coming out of the roof."

In the Ballantyne area, lightning struck a house on Donnington Drive. The family didn’t want to be interviewed, but firefighters said they believe lightning, again, was to blame. The fire started in the attic.

No one was injured in any of the Charlotte-area lightning strikes.

According to WCNC's First Warn Storm Team, the storms on Tuesday afternoon produced a massive amount of cloud-to-ground lightning. WCNC radars showed over 900 strikes in one 10-minute period at the height of the storm.

Outside Mecklenburg County, more than 2,100 power outages were reported in Union County, 968 in Cabarrus and 800 in Iredell County.

Late Tuesday night, a tree fell on an SUV traveling north on Park Road at Hillside Drive. The tree brought down several power lines, causing outages south of Woodlawn Road. The driver of the SUV wasn't injured.

Besides the lightning, the storms produced wind gusts up to 60 mph, toppling trees throughout the region.

In Lowell, a strong gust blew over a tree in Dean Poole’s yard onto his house.

"Kinda made a mess,” he said. "I know there will be damage to the roof. It took the gutters and all that down up there."

Another large tree fell across Providence Road next to the Manor Theatre in Charlotte during rush hour. It clipped a loaded CATS bus and crashed through the windshield. No one was hurt, but the accident did block traffic.

Another tree fell in a parking lot behind the Panera Bread on Providence, ripping down power lines.

The downpours of rain caused flooding in some areas.

Elizabeth McMurray and her three kids ran into trouble inside their car on Central and Hawthorne. They jumped out as water rushed in.

"I had no idea it was as high as it was. It was all the way up past the door and the car just flooded. Water started coming all in and we couldn't do nothing,” McMurray said.

Another car stalled going through water on Brevard at East 9th Street.

The power outages caused many intersections to be without traffic lights. Police say when that happens, motorists should treat the intersections as four-way stops.

E-mail your severe weather photos to firstwarnpics@wcnc.com.

(WCNC's Ann Sheridan and Tony Burbeck contributed to this report.)